calathea

[Neal R. Foster]

In article <4ug9fu$ge5 at dfw-ixnews9.ix.netcom.com> d_micro at ix.netcom.com(Michael L Roginsky ) writes:
>From: d_micro at ix.netcom.com(Michael L Roginsky )
>Subject: Re: calathea
>Date: 9 Aug 1996 21:10:22 GMT

>Just another thought. In Belem, Brasil, they had "cataleas" orchids.
>They were grown on a bed of charcoal on hanging baskets. They were
>watered every day, and fed from time to time with the watering. The
>most beautiful I ever saw was the "catalea violacea".
>Mike Roginsky, aka, Micro.

Mike, the orchid you saw was Cattleya violacea, which I agree is a very 
beautiful species but difficult to bloom in a greenhouse without high light 
levels, I understand.

Calatheas are not orchids; they belong to the prayer-plant family, the 
Marantaceae.  The blooms are nothing to write home about, but many of the 
species that I have grown have the interesting habit of folding their leaves 
upward at night.  They are grown primarily for their interestingly-marked and 
colorful foliage.

--Neal Foster